The desperate group of four men pried loose the tracks, flagged down the train, held the engineer and passengers at gunpoint and blew the mail car to smithereens to crack the safe and make off with the payroll for the troops in town. Not Butch and Sundance, but a raid by an action cell of the Haganah, the Israeli underground resistance operating against British Mandate forces in post-World War II Jerusalem.

To Stewart O’Nan’s 15 previous, omniform novels we can now add the excellent “City of Secrets,” a little jewel, ­wonderfully sparse, moody and uneasy, reminiscent of the delicious, frayed-­collar noir of le Carré’s “The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.”

The Friends of the Bristol Public Library invite you to a community Author Luncheon with best-selling author Stewart O’Nan, Thursday, July 14 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 42 Century Drive, Bristol, CT. Stewart O’Nan will discuss how he came to write three books set in Connecticut (Night Country, Circus Fire and Last Night at the Lobster) and how area libraries were of help to him. Stewart will also read from his national best-selling novel, Last Night at the Lobster, based on true events in Bristol and the local area. Doors open @ 11:30 AM.